Protect your camera and gimbal

Following on from a number of users who purchased replacement boards for the gimbal, only to be told they can't work with the camera, I thought I would check it out with Yuneec.

The situation is this.

All cameras and gimbals are married in a giant room back at the Yuneec factory in very large batches (apparently 100 at a time). This is a computerized and the software does in fact make the unit a complete unique unit. There are no facilities outside of China to undertake this operation.

Therefore if you have a crash of some sort and damage the electronics then the whole unit is a write off.

This is because:-
a) the units are married and need the super duper machine to marry them and its in China
b) the boards in the gimbal are tightly packed so there is little shock absorption and therefore you do not want to crash heavy. (surprise!!)

This has been addressed in the CGO3 in terms of better shock absorption but does not get away from the "crash" risk. The "marrying" element is also being addressed in future models to allow board swaps.

Therefore if you are unlucky enough to have to send a unit back for "repair" then you will get a new replacement as they are married units but charged a fraction of the cost. Though what that cost will be will depend on circumstances of the crash.

Hope this clears up the issue.

 

Nrrtrains,

You are quite right. CS Centres found out the same way we all did.

 

Well hopefully I might have some good news on repairing the old boards. I found a lady that taught herself micro soldering and trace repair. She now teaches this all over the world and she is very well respected. She specializes in ipad and phone repairs. So I emailed her about the problem and told her that one connector had been ripped off. She told me to send it on out to her and she will see what she could do.
Here is the email I got today.
Update Subject: Completed

Message:

This repair is done--you were missing three pads, but those all clearly had torn traces leading to local components. I made microjumpers between the three pins and the local components, and soldered the main connector back on its ground pads. Everything looks solid, so I think if this connector was the original problem with the board than it should be good to go.

I will send you an invoice for a level 2 board repair and pack to ship when paid---thanks!
jessa

The cost was $74.99 USD but if it works it will be well worth it.
I will update this when I get it and try it out.

 

Jagerbomb,

Does the good lady have any international "friends" that do similar in UK or Europe ? or indeed is there an organization that members here can look up for a local contact ?

 

mrburns, when I get the board back and confirm the fix worked I will give out more information. Right now so that she does not get a bunch of emails and people sending in boards I just want to make sure it actually worked.
Hope you understand. I should get it back late next week.

 

Jagerbomb,

Totally understand and appreciate your research and efforts. Thanks

 

Still waiting on the return of my board from New York. USPS has to be one of the slowest delivery systems going.
But now there is another player in the field to repair your boards. Brad Mendrick (ex tech guy for Yuneec) has started excepting boards for repair. Not sure on his cost or if he does it in house or sends it out to someone else for repairs but he does fix them now also.
"Bad crash? Rip the plugs off your CGO2(+) gimbals control board? Never fear Independent Copter Works has you covered! We can handle the fine soldering that is need to reattach the plug and get you back flying!"
https://www.facebook.com/IndependentCopterWorks/?hc_location=ufi

 

OK so got my board back and posted the info in a separate post. Hopefully it will help others out like it did for me.
Everything works perfectly again.
http://yuneec-forum.com/threads/some-very-good-news-for-damaged-gimbal-boards.1322/#post-9577

 

Congratulations.